Lynne Jordan & the Shivers & the Family Guy – Seth MacFarlane

What a night! What a gig! So, I get a call four days before the actual party. Carlo from the James Hotel calls me up and says:
Are you available for a party in like four days?

It’s Winter. There’s a recession – of course we are! Then he tells me it’s a party sponsored by Twentieth Televison, Fox and Tribune Broadcasting and the special guest is Seth MacFarlane – the creator of the “Family Guy,” “American Dad” and “The Cleveland Show.”

I’m in!

I do a conference call with someone in LA and our Chicago contact. And so we sort out the details and pricing and repertoire. This is a big deal. There are some important folks coming. Oh yeah, there are only 25 guests… mostly middle aged white guys…

The night comes and I arrive at the hotel. The party is in a conference room. The boys set up. The guests start to file in. It doesn’t look like it’s gonna be a raucous party but you know how I refuse to be daunted. This little group of middle aged white guys in suits were gonna rock if it killed me. And so I decide to forego the background instrumental jazz for some very low volume renditions of our favorite covers. The guests, who by this time have been enjoying an extended cocktail hour, finally head over to the long table, take their seats and are chatting civilly. Our Chicago contact is a bit nervous. I get it. If this party fails then we all suck. We just keep the hits coming very softly: “like little rock and roll mice.” The boys start glancing up from their conversations; start tapping feet and begin keeping beat with their fingertips on the table. We are still background but we have infiltrated the party without overpowering it. They don’t know us. Never heard of us. They’re from LA. And then they start applauding after each song.

Gotcha! We are family now.

Then presentation time comes and the big honchos (LA network execs) come up to the mic all relaxed and merry. The din of the room rises. And Seth, who is fucking adorable, comes to the mic and is funny and charming. In fact, everyone is funny and charming.

The party felt like a big ole family dinner. Seth defiinitely added a huge buzz of excitement He is so clever and successful and handsome. I went gaga and became just a tad short of a stalkerazzi… You know I had the camera in tow!

Then the biggest honcho asked if we could play a few tunes and invite Seth up to sing. We were ready for this, and sing he did. That boy can blow. We did some Sinatra: “The Lady is a Tramp,” “I Got You Under My Skin,” – which he sang in several of his character voices – and then Seth and I sang: “Fly Me to the Moon” as a duet. What joy was mine!

Then everyone got in the act!! We had a ball!

The guests were lovin’ it and laughing their asses off!

The boys (The Shivers) are huge fans of the Family Guy and were geeked up to meet Seth and take photos. I was running around the room: click, click, flash! I love taking photos of people!

The party was off the hook. This little mix of LA TV Exec types, Chicago TV Exec types and Lynne Jordan and the Shivers added up to one fun night to remember.

The client said we made her a hero. And Carlo should get all the credit too. He brought us to this event.

After following Seth around with my camera, I weasled a big poster of “The Clevelands” out of them and got hottie (Seth) to sign it.

We were finished by 9:30PM and we got cocktails.

I love my job!